That’s how the Calgary country artist looks at things: to truly know him, to understand who he is as an artist, you need to know the path he’s travelled as a human being.

“Even the music that isn’t directly about it, is about it,” says the singer-songwriter, sitting in a booth in the lounge of Joey Chinook.

The “it” to which he refers is Wills’ reconnecting with his birth parents several years ago and what that did to him personally and professionally — and what he’s attempting to do back.

Born in Edmonton to a couple of teenagers, he was placed in the system when he was 18 months old, and adopted soon after by a local family. Wills admits he had a typical and “idyllic” upbringing in the southwest Calgary community of Oakridge, with hockey, skateboarding and typical kid stuff the order of the day.

“But music wasn’t a part of that,” he says. “And it wasn’t a lack of interest it was a lack of contact. My family wasn’t musical, per se. Country music was on in my house, for sure, but nobody in the family was really musical and most of our activities lent themselves or athletics or, I want to say ‘business activities.’

“Music was always a closet thing where I did it, and my parents were supportive, but. . . .”

Oddly, it was only when he was on a backpacking trip through Australia in the late ’90s did he realize he had any kind of real ability when it came to performing. On a $20 bar bet he got up and sang Garth Brooks’s The Dance which brought the house down.

But it was upon his return to Canada that things took a turn more toward the musical for him, after he received a call from his birth mother — both he and she had signed up with the agency to reconnect should the other wish to. A discovery that she had other children living in Edmonton soon had him travelling the QE2 to meet them where he discovered that they, like he, had a love of music, and he was convinced that it was something he could and should pursue further.

While doing just that in a bar band and as many open mikes as he could hit, Wills received another call from his biological mother that she’d located his father in Toronto. Not surprisingly, he soon found himself travelling, meeting up with that dad and other relations of his, including: an eight-year-old brother who played some Charlie Parker on the sax for him; another brother who was in a college rock band; a cousin who’s a jazz drummer; and, most importantly, a father who he could connect with on that level.

“We were up all night listening to music — everything from Bob Marley to Merle Haggard — through the night,” remembers Wills.

“The affinity for that was so obvious and that’s when I went, ‘You know what, this is genetics. This isn’t just a silly dream, this is real, it’s part of who I am. . . .’

And it was both of those things Wills has since immersed himself in, having released a debut Man With No Past a couple of years ago — his single A Little More Time went Top 40 — and now releasing what he thinks is his most focused and best effort, the album If It Was That Easy, which gets released Tuesday on the Nashville-based On Ramp Records label, with major Canadian distribution through EMI.

The catchy, traditionally-leaning disc has the industry buzzing thanks in part to the first single Show Some Respect which hit Top 5 on this nation’s country charts, but, Wills thinks there’s so much more to it, so much depth to the material, and is such an incredible representation of the man and artist he is.

“I definitely wear my heart on my sleeve when it comes to my music,” he says. “Even if it’s tongue in cheek there’s often a connection somewhere in my life.”

He pauses and laughs, “I’ve probably given too much away. But there’s probably a connection to my life somehow.

“I wanted an album that resembled my experience. The title track of the album, If It Was That Easy, it sums up the whole thing. . . . If it was that easy, I would have done this 10 years ago.”

Wills thinks not only did he have to get to the right place as a person but that he also had to have the right conditions, which included friend and producer Mike Pyle who co-wrote most of the songs on the disc and who introduced the singer to Walt Aldridge, someone whom Wills considered something of a hero of his, who also has co-writes on almost every track.

Wills says Aldridge, who’d previously written for or co-written with everyone from Tim McGraw, Travis Tritt and Reba McEntire to Lou Reed, helped him with the one ability he was truly looking for when it came to his own work.

“I’ve always been drawn to songwriters where they have three minutes to tell me something, so I want to laugh, I want to cry, I want to feel something in those three minutes. That’s not always easy to accomplish, but the best songwriters in the world, to me, can do that.

“So when we made the record, it was important to me . . . they had to do that,” he says

“I’ll let the world decide what they think, but I hope that each song has an identifiable place where it makes you feel something and it makes you think something.”

Again, so far so good, with Wills now being wholeheartedly embraced by the Canadian country music industry and his star, after all these years, rising quickly.

In fact, after the quick lunch, the father of three was heading home to pack before flying to Toronto to make the press rounds, including an appearance on Canada AM.

And while the music on If It Was That Easy will be front and centre, Wills is also planning on using this platform and his hard-earned success to further his role as Ambassador for the Adoption Council of Canada, getting the word out about all of the incredible work that the agency does for everyone involved in the adoption process.

“I think everybody needs to have something that means something to them that’s more important than the menial things they do every day,” he says.

“At the end of the day, I’m just writing songs. It’s great that I get to share them and hopefully I can make an actual living at it, but at the end of the day I think you have to have something bigger than that that motivates you. Otherwise it seems kind of pointless.”

Almost Done!

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.

Postmedia wants to improve your reading experience as well as share the best deals and promotions from our advertisers with you. The information below will be used to optimize the content and make ads across the network more relevant to you. You can always change the information you share with us by editing your profile.

By clicking "Create Account", I hearby grant permission to Postmedia to use my account information to create my account.

I also accept and agree to be bound by Postmedia's Terms and Conditions with respect to my use of the Site and I have read and understand Postmedia's Privacy Statement. I consent to the collection, use, maintenance, and disclosure of my information in accordance with the Postmedia's Privacy Policy.